Sean Taylor Tribute Painting

[swainy67]

Hi Folks, I'm the fella who did the painting. Theres a lot of mis- information floating around and it is near impossible to convince every Redskin fan of what happened, what I have been telling people is that if they're interested in what went down just email me and I can give you the whole story. I just wish people wouldn't draw up their negative conclusions when not all of the story has been reported.
Email is jjswain@verizon.net
Cheers

[swainy67]

G'day folks,
I'm posting below a statement I made on Extreme skins forum describing the events of Seans portrait from start to finish. You may see some references to some people in that forum so don't get confused if you see a couple of those. This has been my story since the get go and no one has come forward to shed any different light on this story and nor do I think they will.
Cheers
Jason

[swainy67]

This whole thing is very amuzing to watch. For one thing, this painting has not been on sale since April 16th. This painting was part of an art show back in January of this year. I missed the show as I was in Australia attending the funeral of my 12 year old niece. On my return I made arrangements to pick up all the artwork from the hospital by the closing date of March 21st. I was asked if I could leave the Sean Taylor painting at the hospital as a backdrop to the upcoming Redskins Reads charity event, I happily accepted. The event was on March 24th and was attended by 6 Redskins and their staff. I was approached by one of the staff and asked what I intended to do with the painting. I replied that we would like to sell it as I had a contract with the hospital to donate a quarter of all art sales which I would honor even past the art show dates. Not mentioned either was that I was going to give an extra 10 percent to the Sean Taylor foundation, a total of 35 percent. This artshow took weeks to organize so it's not just a matter of painting a picture.
I asked the Redskins rep. if the logos would be a problem and nothing was said, we just traded cards and decided to stay in touch.
I was contacted a week or so later to see what I was asking for the portrait. I stated $ 20 000 which was the price during the whole show. I was then asked if I would donate the painting to the Redskins so they could hang it at Fedex field. I said it would be a great honor but I decline the offer. I received another email a few days later saying that if I intended to sell the painting I needed to remove all Redskin & NFL logos. I then offered to loan the painting to the Skins for a set amount of time to display it at Fedex but never heard back from them. That was April16th and that was our last communication.
As far as the Moss deal went it was probably my fault not getting some sort of deposit or statement. I was approached at the same show and asked if I could get him 3 prints with a size we determined to be around 48 inches by 40 inches, these were custom Giclee prints on canvas, not just a poster. I see there were a lot of art experts who seemed to know what this costs. To set up a print like this costs around $1000, then each individual print costs for that size just over $300, the hardware to stretch them costs $150 each, then I have to pay someone to stretch them $ 100 each. The these were to be sent to Miami $600 including insurance. Then there was the 2 and a half days labor so tell me you still think the $5000 price tag is expensive, 99 percent of the art people I consulted said I was selling these way to cheap.
I gave the final price and never heard back from him, I contacted his agent and she suggested "I move in another direction with the prints" .
So now I find myself out of pocket $2650.
I was pretty mad but new I didn;t have much recourse so I just picked my pictures and brough them home.
The recent articles you have seen have arisen because I decided to bring the painting back out to display as part of the NFL kickoff. Just to make it perfectly clear , this painting is a display and is Not for sale, SAvvy Mr Admiral Brizzo. The articles came about because of local tip offs and I told my story to The Post, I was then in turn contacted by WJLA so I am not out there jumping in front of cameras, I would like to know how that bloke says I'm full of myself, what a friggin world beater statement that is.
This painting will remain a display piece and you should all go take a good close look at it and give me your honest art critique.
Oh and by the way there has benn absolutely no offer whatsover from the skins and I'm not losing too much sleep over it. I have given away a lot of artwork over the years to people I think deserve it or have helped me out in some way. I had two special prints made up to give to Chief Taylor and Jacki his fiance and they both thanked me for them. I went to a game once and my mates 8 year old kid had a half eaten Snickers bar in his hand, the Moron at the gate told him to throw it in the trash as he cannot have food in the Stadium. Seeing this kid visibly upset showed me that this is not an orgaization built around the fans, it was a few years back, but I won't attend another one.
Now if you still want to dispute this story then I give up trying to explain and this is the last time I will explain. So draw your own conclusions. I have the truth on my side

[swainy67]

This was posted on Extreme skins I just didn't have the time to edit it. To remove the logos from this painting tells me that they no longer consider Sean to be a Redskin and thats why I left them there. I have brought this painting out for the fans to see at a local sports bar for "Free", which it wouldn't be if it ended up at the Stadium. I have challenged a lot of the naysayers over at Extreme skins to email me with their own version of events and all I've heard is crickets chirping. So if you get the chance to get down to Pentagon Row shops, pop in a check out the portrait and let me know how you like it cause the fans deserve to see this for free not this organization.
Cheers

[saden1]

Swainy, you're doing the right thing man. Some folks see a figure, they don't see the underlying cost things. Keep doing your thing brah.

[Giantone]

Originally Posted by GhettoDogAllStars

Thank you. He spent 200 hours on it.

My daughter is an artist for a living,this guy is not very good .I showed this to her(she is a Skins fan) and she said if he spent 200 hours on that thing them someone is getting cheated!

[saden1]

Originally Posted by Giantone

My daughter is an artist for a living,this guy is not very good .I showed this to her(she is a Skins fan) and she said if he spent 200 hours on that thing them someone is getting cheated!

She can tell all of that by looking at a picture on the internet? Without seeing the painting first hand? Without knowing how big it is, the kind of paint used and how many layers of paint used? Also, what does 200 hours include? Does it include setup and cleanup time after a painting session?


I call b.s. on your daughter's call.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by swainy67

This was posted on Extreme skins I just didn't have the time to edit it. To remove the logos from this painting tells me that they no longer consider Sean to be a Redskin and thats why I left them there. I have brought this painting out for the fans to see at a local sports bar for "Free", which it wouldn't be if it ended up at the Stadium. I have challenged a lot of the naysayers over at Extreme skins to email me with their own version of events and all I've heard is crickets chirping. So if you get the chance to get down to Pentagon Row shops, pop in a check out the portrait and let me know how you like it cause the fans deserve to see this for free not this organization.
Cheers

Well up until you said that they no longer cosidered Sean to be a skin I was starting to feel you just wanted what was fair. This organization did a ton for Sean and his family and still do to this day. It seems now you have something against the organization and it was even more clear when you had to throw in the little kids story. Why did you bring up the logo issue at first if you did not know there was an issue with trade marks to start with? I'm just not buying these entire story and think its more two sided then your leading us to believe. By the way I do like the painting.

[swainy67]

I see I'm going to be bangin my head against a wall here no matter what I say. All I'm going to say is make your own mind up. I know what happened and thats all that counts and I hope you take your daughter to the bar to see the painting cause I'm guessing you only saw it on a computer, then you can give me your honest art critque.

[GhettoDogAllStars]

Originally Posted by saden1

She can tell all of that by looking at a picture on the internet? Without seeing the painting first hand? Without knowing how big it is, the kind of paint used and how many layers of paint used? Also, what does 200 hours include? Does it include setup and cleanup time after a painting session?


I call b.s. on your daughter's call.

Yeah, the painting is 6 feet tall ... more like a mural.

[jgalecpa]

"No Good Deed Goes Unpunished."

J-Dawg

[QuarterFlash]

Originally Posted by Giantone

My daughter is an artist for a living,this guy is not very good .I showed this to her(she is a Skins fan) and she said if he spent 200 hours on that thing them someone is getting cheated!

Are you kidding me with this??? Tacky..and some of the other statements here as well! Sounds more like your daughter is a jealous artist. Have her look at the art on his website, so she can turn even greener. I suggest she and you go take a look at it in person. A real artist is an art lover as well, and not just of their own work, and would never make a statement like that without seeing it up close and personal.You will both be blown away at just how magnificent this piece is. I agree with the artist, removing the logo's would be wrong, and the Redskins insisting he do so, would be a total shame...and yeah it is like saying he wasn't a Redskin. Guess it is OK to plaster the logo all over crap like plastic mugs and coasters..oh well that is OK, because they are making a profit. Read the article folks...really read it. They didn't have a problem with the logos until he wouldn't give it to them for free...duh this is a no brainer. They get it for free and start printing it on plastic mugs, coasters and T-shirts and the Hospital gets nothing. Hell yes he should get paid for painting this. How many other artist out there donate a percentage to charity?They approched him, not the other way around. So did Santana Moss, and then backed out on the advice of an agent who doesn't know art from a fart. Oh and I don't know about the rest of the Skins fans, but would love to hear something from the Redskins..Dan S.
I am hoping that they will do the right thing here, either buy the painting and let the hospital benefit, or let the artist find someone who will.
Kudo's to J. Swain for stepping forward and explaining, at least he is honest!

[Giantone]

Originally Posted by saden1

She can tell all of that by looking at a picture on the internet? Without seeing the painting first hand? Without knowing how big it is, the kind of paint used and how many layers of paint used? Also, what does 200 hours include? Does it include setup and cleanup time after a painting session?


I call b.s. on your daughter's call.

I've seen hers and I've seen his,I'll take her word ...yup.

[Giantone]

Originally Posted by QuarterFlash

Are you kidding me with this??? Tacky..and some of the other statements here as well! Sounds more like your daughter is a jealous artist. Have her look at the art on his website, so she can turn even greener. I suggest she and you go take a look at it in person. A real artist is an art lover as well, and not just of their own work, and would never make a statement like that without seeing it up close and personal.You will both be blown away at just how magnificent this piece is. I agree with the artist, removing the logo's would be wrong, and the Redskins insisting he do so, would be a total shame...and yeah it is like saying he wasn't a Redskin. Guess it is OK to plaster the logo all over crap like plastic mugs and coasters..oh well that is OK, because they are making a profit. Read the article folks...really read it. They didn't have a problem with the logos until he wouldn't give it to them for free...duh this is a no brainer. They get it for free and start printing it on plastic mugs, coasters and T-shirts and the Hospital gets nothing. Hell yes he should get paid for painting this. How many other artist out there donate a percentage to charity?They approched him, not the other way around. So did Santana Moss, and then backed out on the advice of an agent who doesn't know art from a fart. Oh and I don't know about the rest of the Skins fans, but would love to hear something from the Redskins..Dan S.
I am hoping that they will do the right thing here, either buy the painting and let the hospital benefit, or let the artist find someone who will.
Kudo's to J. Swain for stepping forward and explaining, at least he is honest!

This has nothing to do with Sean,her Degree comes from the Corcoran as an artist looking at it artistically.....the value that has been placed on it and the hours don't add up.

[Monkeydad]

Your daughter is growing up to be a Giant "one" too.